SPECTATOR'S LIBRARY.

HISTORY,

History of the Punjaub, and of the Mrs, Progress, and Present Condition Of the Sikhs. In two volumes Allen and CO. MEDICINE,

&rondo; its Nature, its Causes, its Prevalence, and the Principles of Treatment. By Benjamin Phillips, F.R.S., Assistant-Surgeon to the Westminster Hospital.

Illustrated with an engraved Plate. Marlow

an Tales. By the Author of "Letters from the-Baltic." [Murray's Home and Colonial Library • ] 4/err* Tas

Pictvms,ures from Italy. By Charles Dickens Bradbury mid Imo.

HISTORY OE THE PIINJABB AND THE SIKHS.

IN 1834, Mr. Henry T. Prinsep, then Secretary of the Indian Govern- ment, published at Calcutta a volume on the political life of ftunjeet Singh, and the origin of the Sikh power in the Punjanb, with some an- count of the character, laws, and customs of the Sikhs : which work ori- ginated in this wise. From the time of our connexion with the Sikhs in 1808, as protector of the territory lying between the Sutlej and the Jumna, the Government was constantly appealed to in disputes between the chiefs, and their neighbours or dependents. These disputes often in- volved questions of great intricacy in reference to Sikh customs, and gave the Government a good deal of trouble. At last, in 1830, Lord William Bentinck called upon two of the "Politicals," who were employed in the affairs of the Punjaub, for reports upon the whole of the Sikh story; and Captain William Murray and Captain (now Sir C.) Wade sent in two voluminous papers, that of Captain Murray being particularly elaborate. "It was," says Mr. Prinsep, "the result of much reading and research, and was prepared from materials collected during the whole period of his residence amongst the Sikhs. He had evidently consulted with care all the Persian and other books that afford any insight into the history of the Sikhs, or of the Mogul and Afghan officers who came into contact or collision with them; while his account of the rise and fortunes of Ennjeet Singh was compiled from the reports and verbal information of intelligent persons who had served under him, cor- rected and tested by a laborious examination of the Akhbars, or native news- papers, files of which were recorded in his office: a valuable appendix was added, containing the result of his personal observations and inquiries into the habits customs, roles, and observances of the Sikhs."

It was the intention of the Governor-General to request Captain Mur- ray to recast his report and form a volume from its materials, so as to put the public in possession of its information : but that valuable officer died before the design could be carried into effect. Mr. Prinsep there- fore undertook the task; making Captain Murray's report the basis of his volume, but adding information contained in the report of Captain Wade, or derived from other sources ; among which was a manuscript Persian history, placed at the disposal of Mr. Prinsep by Sir Charles Metcalfe. The volume thus compiled contained :a sketch of the manners, rules, and customs of the modern Sikhs ; with a history of their fortunes from 1707• (about which time the last priest or prophet of the sect was defeated, and it is supposed done to death) until Lord William Bentinck's interview with Itunjeet Singh in 1831. This work, which has long been out of print, and never was extensively circulated in England, forms a consider- able portion of the volumes before us, Mr. Prinsep's consent having been obtained for its use : the other part has been supplied by the anonymous editor, in order to present a complete account of the Sikhs, from their origin to the present day. It commences with a -view of the physical features of the Punjaub, and of its population or tribes. This is followed by a sketch of its history from the time of Alexander's invasion till the latter end of the fifteenth century ; when Nanuk, a Hindoo philosopher, promulgated a reform of established religions, based on the unity of the Deity, which subsequently grew into the Sikh creed. The history and tenets of this remarkable man, with the fortunes of his followers and successors, bring down the narrative to the death of Govind Garu, and introduce the production of Mr. Prinsep ; which follows continuously .to its natural dose. At this point the editor again takes up his task ; com- pleting the history of Ruujeet, exhibiting the anarchy which followed his death, and describing the late campaign on the banks of the Sutlej. The editor has also made some additions, when.greater fulness seemed desir- able, and added some notes to the original text. The original basis of the book, and still more the additional matter, are, it will be seen, of the nature of compilation ; but it is compilation of a very superior kind. The original collectors of Mr. Prinsep's mate- rials were men who for some years had been engaged in transactions with the Sikhs, had their own living knowledge for a guide and stimu- lus, and drew their information from original sources—often as regards the latter period from eye-witnesses or personal experience. This in despite of a familiar mode of speaking of remote events and persons known to the writer, but not to the reader, and therefore sometimes puzzling, gives considerable interest and reality to the matter ; which Mr. Primp seems to have arranged and presented with skill, retaining, wherever it was practicable, the language of the original. The addi- tional matter has not so much freshness as that drawn from the reports ; but the compiler seems to have had a knowledge of his subject before undertaking to write upon it, and to have drawn his information from very respectable sources—in fact, from the Anglo-Indian classical writers. The late events in India have, no doubt, been the cause of the publi- cation ; but the subject has an interest of its own, and was worthy of record apart from any extrinsic circumstances. The origin, principles, and growth of the Sikh sect—the circumstances which favoured their development—and the various fortunes which attended the disciples, now hunted for their lives by blahometan persecutors, now making head, through the anarchy which distracted India during the greater part of the last century, till they conquered the Punjaub—are subjects witty a curious attraction to the historical student. Not less so is the policy of Runjeet Singh, and the means by which he and his father raised them- selves from chiefs of the lowest of twelve tribes or independent feudatories to the absolute control of the country. One principal feature in ftunjeet's

!rale was to oppress the widow and the fatherless, by seizing the district on a chieftain's death, and either confiscating it at once, or making such arrangements, after the receipt of a bribe, as deprived the possessor

of all power, and exposed the territory to be forfeited at a convenient opportunity. It is possible that the story of each subject might be told with more effect, as it is certain that the philosophy might be developed with more of critical acumen ; but the narrative renders it sufficiently obvious for the reader to draw his own conclusions.

The name " Sikh " signifies disciple; and the history of the sect eon- tains the moral of persecution. Nanuk himself was of a mild and peace- ful genius : his object was to reform the Mahometan and Hindoo reli- gions by throwing off their superstition, and to combine the followers of each on the common ground of a pure Theism. He " taught that de- votion was due but to one God, and that forms are immaterial " : when asked to exhibit some miraculous proof of supernatural powers, he replied, "A holy teacher has no defence but the purity of his doctrine " ;

and at a time (the earlier part of the sixteenth century) when Christian Europe was about to begin the terrible persecutions of Lutheran and Romanist, Nanuk enforced the principles of the largest toleration, and that religious obstacles were only to be overcome "by the force of reason and humanity." His practical views inclined to quietism, if not to the contemplative abstraction of the Hindoos; such was the effect of his character that he was respected by all religions ; and though he was so successful in his teaching as to have drawn before his death one hundred thousand disciples to his following, he did not, says Sir John Mal- colm, "rouse the bigotry of the intolerant and tyrannical Mahometan government under which he lived." He was born in 1469, and died, it would appear, some time after 1530 ; bequeathing his spiritual authority to a disciple, named Lehana, passing over his own sons, whom he con- sidered unworthy to succeed him, as was indeed the case.

Although it is not very likely that the ignorant and rather ferocious Khalas or liaises would carry out to their fullest extent the mild and tolerant doctrines of their founder, yet they seem for the greater part of

a century to have observed his leading doctrines—to live in peace and parity with all men, and only to take arms in self-defence. In 1606, Arjunmal, the fourth chief or priest in succession from Nanuk, and the compiler of the Adi Grant% or first sacred volume of the Sikhs, was imprisoned, and cruelly put to death by the Mahometan Governor of the province. The only effect of this was to cause an insurrection of the Sikhs, headed by liar Govind, the son of Arjunmal.

"The martyrdom of their pontiff converted the Sikhs, hitherto an inoffensive sect of quietists, into a band of fanatical warriors; they took arms under Har Govind, the son of Arjunmal, and wreaked their vengeance upon all whom they believed to have been concerned in the atrocious deed.

"At this moment, Prince Ehosru, the Emperor's eldest son, had raised the standard of revolt against his father, in that part of the Punjaub where the Sikhs were located, chiefly in the neighbourhood of Lahore. The contest carried on by Ear Govind against the Mahomedans seems to have led to no event of sufficient importance to be noticed by contemporary writers; but it appears to have been

his desire to imbue his party with an irreconcilable hatred and a desperate spirit of hostility towards the Mahomedans. It is stated that he wore two swords in his girdle, and when asked the reason, replied, ' One is to revenge the death of my father, the other to destroy the miracles of Mahomed. "

From this time till beyond the middle of the last century, when the weakness of the Great Mogul, the rise of the Mahrattas, and the Persian invasions, had reduced the whole of India to a state of anarchy, and enabled the Sikh chiefs to set up a sort of feudal oligarchy, the Sikh story is a suc- cession of tyrannical persecutions and fierce retaliations, followed bylicter- vals of rest or elhaustion. That the martyrdom of Arjunmal converted "an inoffensive sect of quietists into a band of fanatical warriors," is per- haps putting it too broadly—the war and the fanaticism were both in them : but their history is a singular proof of the uselessness of persecution and its terrible reaction. So far as we can perceive, the Sala do not hold one single tenet of their original founder, beyond some general idea of God ; and that is overlaid, if not altogether superseded, by mere ceremonies, to which he would have attached no value whatsoever. When the Imperial forces were strong enough, the disciples were absolutely hunted from the land, and driven to take refuge in the mountains; those who preferred to remain being compelled to throw aside all external marks of their faith, and comply with the requirements of the Government ; their leaders were put to death whenever they were caught, and their high priest martyred.

And mark the result. Though the essential parts of their religion were changed, the Sikhs stuck pertinaciously to its name; with every oppor- tunity they repaid their oppressors, and with a savage interest which a regular government cannot always so well carry out; they survived wars and, attacks which would probably have destroyed tribes not banded to- gether by fanaticism ; and when events gave the Silffis the ascendancy, the disciples of the mild and tolerant Nanuk became the most intolerant and swaggering of religious oppressors.